Domke F-8 RuggedWear review

A few days ago I received a new camera bag, a Domke F-8 in RuggedWear.  When I was trying to find information on this bag, I could find very little in the way of pictures of the bag and how gear could be loaded into it.  I wanted to post some brief thoughts of the bag and also a variety of pictures with the gear I use.

Overall, I like this bag much better than my old everyday carry bag, the Domke F-5xb.  The biggest reason why I wanted to get a new bag was the zipper closure on the F-5xb just gets in the way and makes it difficult to quickly get things in and out of the bag.  Below is a picture of bags openings.

Here are the two bags side by side.

I also couldn’t find a good way to configure the F-5xb the way I wanted.  The F-8 has a wide opening and the dimensions of it are much better to housing a full micro 4/3 kit.  Here is a picture of a average kit I carry.
The pictures includes:
– Olympus OMD E-M5
– Panasonic 25mm f/1.4
– Olympus 45mm f/1.8
– Olympus 9-18mm f/4-5.6
– Olympus 14-150mm f/4-5.6
– Olympus FL-300R
– extra battery and memory card
– wrist strap
– 58mm Circular Polarizer with 52-58mm step-up ring
– 52mm ND filter
– lens cloth

This gives me a very flexible kit that covers almost everything I need.  If I go out for shooting sports or wildlife, I’ll replace the 14-150mm with a Panasonic 45-200mm.  I can also shove the FL-600R flash either in the front pocket or fold it up and lay it in the main compartment.  To carry that amount of gear, I have the bag set up into two ‘levels’.  The bottom level generally holds the FL-300R and accessory flash on one side and either the 14-150mm or the 45-200mm laid on it’s side in the other.  I have a pair of thin padded dividers that rest on top of the first level gear.

The top level consists of the E-M5 pointed lens down in the left side and a pair of primes or the folder FL-600R on the right. You will notice that I have a green divider on the far left side of the main compartment. This is to provide a bit of support for the left strap lug of the E-M5 to sit on and better balance the camera in the bag. The middle divider I use is from a different bag and is shorter than the dividers that come with the F-8. This is so the E-M5 can lay across the bag without sitting higher than the edge.

Finally, here is a shot of the E-M5 in the lens down position.
This set up is very easy to work with on the run.  The bag stays put thanks to the rubber Domke laces through the strap.  The RuggedWear material is great in that it is very water resistant and resists dirt fairly well.  It has a weathered look to it that I like as well.  You will notice that I did remove the Domke logo’s on either side pocket of the bag.  I also put a piece of one sided velcro on the bag to negate the velcro Domke has on the bag opening.  This quiets it down and makes getting in and out easier.  When I need the bag to stay shut, the metal clasp on the bottom is all I need.

So there it is, my new favorite camera bag.  If you are in the market for a new bag, I hope this helps.